Causes cited by the protesters included unemployment, the lack of housing, food-price inflation, corruption, restrictions on freedom of speech and poor living conditions.

[10] Between 3 and 10 January, riots and protests broke out across most Algerian towns, triggered by large increases in the prices of basic foods including oil, sugar, and flour.

[13] and Kolea[14] On 5 January, major riots broke out in several areas at once: in the Bab El Oued neighbourhood of the capital, Algiers,[15] and nearby suburbs, as well as Algeria's second city, Oran, and other towns including Djelfa, Boumerdes, Annaba, and Tipaza.

[16] The young men rioting blocked roads, burned tires, and sacked government buildings, protesting the sudden increase in the cost of living,[17] the demolition of shantytowns, and broader issues such as unemployment.

[19] [20] Former Islamic Salvation Front number two Ali Belhadj went to Bab El Oued to see the events and encourage the youths; he was arrested later that day, as were many other protesters and rioters.

He had been sharing a room of 30 square metres with seven other people, including his sister, since 2003; he had repeatedly approached local authorities to get on the social housing list and been rebuffed.

A number of left-wing opposition parties, including the FFS, RCD, PLJ, and the Communist MDS, as well as the Algerian League for Human Rights (LADDH) and officially unrecognised unions, such as SATEF and SNAPAP, met on 20 January to discuss responses to the situation.

"[49] Meanwhile, the mainly Kabyle-based secularist RCD party had announced plans for a march for democracy to be held on Saturday 22 January, despite being refused permission by the government[36] under the state of emergency.

On the same day President Abdelaziz Bouteflika signaled at a meeting with government ministers his intention to lift the 19-year-old state of emergency in the "very near future", in what was seen as an attempt to quell opposition demands.

Reportedly, he also urged the cabinet to adopt measures to promote job creation and said Algeria's TV and radio should give airtime to all political parties.

[61] While Bouteflika was said to be working to counter the planned demonstration, on 8 February university students commenced an "indefinite strike" in protest against the "poor quality of teaching.

"[69] Police fired tear gas[64] on the protesters and arrested hundreds[2] to possibly more than a 10,000 people,[70] including human rights activists and trade union members.

The next day the activist blogger Hchicha called for alternative marches on Friday as well, meant to attract people wanting a change of system but distrusting the political parties involved in the CNCD.

[81] Elias Filali reported that police had used tear gas to disperse protesters and to evict families who had occupied newly constructed homes overnight in Algiers.

[90] The Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights, a leader of the protests, said it was a "ruse aimed at fooling international opinion at a time when Arab regimes are under pressure.

[95] On 23 March, police in the Algiers suburb of Oued Koriche used tear gas on Wednesday to disperse a crowd of young men who threw stones and Molotov cocktails trying to stop bulldozers from demolishing dozens of illegally built homes.

[96] On 15 April, in a long-awaited televised address, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said he would seek constitutional amendments that would "reinforce representative democracy" and be submitted to parliament or to a referendum.

A leader of the Movement of Society for Peace called for more opposition parties to join the alliance "to give the best possible chance for the Arab Spring to happen in Algeria as well".

[99] The opposition group Rachad uploaded film of a non-violent demonstration of "more than 1000 people" demanding housing in the Said Hamdine neighbourhood of Algiers on 20 January, not widely reported.

[105] On 27 January, hundreds of inhabitants of Choukrane near Bouira closed the nearby national road (RN 29), demanding gas, water, a sewage system, and public lighting, as well as speed bumps to reduce traffic fatalities.

[110] On 1 February, the people of Raffour in M'chedallah near Bouira blocked national route 26 with burning tyres, demanding public lighting, a sewage system, and town planning.

[113] From 6 to 9 February, protesters closed the national highway RN 26 at El Kseur near Bejaia, demanding their jobs back or better compensation after the EPBTP milk factory where they were employed made them redundant.

[114] On 8 and 9 February, youths in Naciria and Bordj-Menaiel attacked ANEM offices, confronted police, and closed the national highway RN 12, protesting unemployment and unfulfilled government promises of jobs.

[117] On 16 February, youths in Tadmait (Tizi-Ouzou) went out on the streets demanding jobs, blocking the roads (including RN 12) with burning tires and damaging the APC office.

[118] Also on 16 February, about 80 unemployed youths occupied the daira offices in Hassi-Messaoud in protest against poverty and "hogra" (oppression) in the region that provides most of the country's oil income,[119] and were dislodged by promises of jobs next week after hundreds of police and gendarmes gathered.

[124] On 23 February, villagers from nearby Imaghzarene closed the daira offices of Draa El Mizan, demanding paving, public lighting, gas, more housing, and a clinic for their town.

[126] On the same day, doctors in the Sidi Bel Abbes maternity ward staged a sit-in in protest against the lack of pharmaceutical supplies, which they said was preventing them from carrying out operations.

[128] On 24 February, unemployed youths gathered in front of the mayoralty of Sidi Lakhdar near Mostaganem, after blocking the road (RN11) the previous day; they left when the mayor promised to review the housing lists.

The head of the Kabylie Autonomy Movement Bouaziz Ait Chebib said: "We called this gathering to denounce the inquisition and persecution of citizens who, because of their beliefs, refuse to observe the fast.

[139] In efforts to discourage the protests organised by the CNCD, the authorities played up the role of the RCD, a mainly Kabyle party unpopular elsewhere in the country, within them; while this tactic had some success, it did not stop demonstrators from turning out in some non-Kabyle cities.